Jun 26, 2017
KQED News Mind/Shift – Katrina Schwartz
“When Ricky Sierra graduated from Da Vinci Design High School in Wiseburn, California near Los Angeles, she was excited to be attending Sonoma State University. She had considered completing her general education requirements at a community college closer to home, but was eager to get settled at a four-year university. Just one semester later she found herself unhappy and wanting to leave school.”(more)
Jun 26, 2017
Education Next – Jay P. Greene
“A new study led by Nicholas W. Papageorge at Johns Hopkins University and IZA examines the connection in Great Britain between teacher reports about behavior when students are 11 and later life outcomes for those students. Because non-cognitive measures are in their infancy, we aren’t entirely sure how to slice and dice the measures and do not have a clear system for labeling the related concepts we are measuring. In this study, if we simply lumped all of the teacher reports of misbehavior together we would find that students who misbehave more tend to do worse later in life. But if we split misbehavior into two categories — one that captures misbehavior directed toward others (externalizing) and another that captures whether students are misbehaving because they are withdrawn (internalizing) — the picture gets more complicated. Students who score poorly on measures of internalizing misbehavior still seem to fare poorly later in life. But for students who score lower on the externalizing misbehavior, how they fare later depends on their social class.”(more)
Jun 25, 2017
Cincinnati – Tiffany Osborne
“In fact, the U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that 80 percent of new jobs in our area over the next decade will require some form of math or science skills – and that STEM jobs are on track to grow at two times the rate than any other field. However, as these fields continue to expand, our region faces a growing disparity between the number of STEM careers available and the amount of local talent with the skills needed to perform those roles. This disparity becomes even more pronounced when looking at the number of students interested in these crucial STEM fields. In fact, research shows that:.”(more)
Jun 25, 2017
The U.S. News and World Report – Lauren Camera
“States across the U.S. are taking more seriously the importance of early childhood education and ramping up their offerings, but compared to the rest of the world, the U.S. has a long way to go. While enrollment rates for children under age three hover just below 30 percent – the middle of the pack compared to other countries – the U.S. falls significantly behind when it comes to enrollment rates of 3- and 4-year-olds, according to a new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. “Giving all children access to high-quality early education and care will lay the foundations for future skill development, boost social mobility and support inclusive growth,” said Gabriela Ramos, OECD chief of staff, in a statement.”(more)
Jun 25, 2017
Chalk Beat – Matt Barnum
“A compromise in a long-running debate over how to evaluate schools is gaining traction as states rewrite their accountability systems. But experts say it could come with familiar drawbacks — especially in fairly accounting for the challenges poor students face. Under No Child Left Behind, schools were judged by the share of students deemed proficient in math and reading. The new federal education law, ESSA, gives states new flexibility to consider students’ academic growth, too.”(more)
Jun 25, 2017
Chalk Beat – Matt Barnum
“The latest big charter school study was sweeping in scope, looking at thousands of students in 26 states across three school years. But the study (and lots of other research on charter schools) uses that data to answer a relatively narrow question: How do students, usually in grades 4-8, perform on math and reading tests compared to students in traditional public schools? This could be called the “test score horse race.” Some researchers are moving beyond that, to try to understand issues like what specific charter approaches are most effective and how charter schools affect larger communities.”(more)
Jun 25, 2017
The 74 Million – Staff Writer
“The U.S. Supreme Court will hand down the last of its decisions for the term Monday, among them a case involving a Missouri preschool that could carry major consequences for the Trump administration’s school choice agenda. Trinity Lutheran vs. Comer revolves around the state’s rejection of the preschool’s application to a public program that funds playground resurfacing using recycled tires. Officials cited a clause in Missouri’s constitution barring funding of religious institutions; the church said it was being illegally excluded from an otherwise neutral public benefit because it was religious.”(more)
Jun 24, 2017
Study Breaks – Lexi Lieberman
“In high school, most students are allowed to pick from a select, few languages to study: Spanish, French, Latinetc. Upon entering college, the options are expanded. This can be an exciting opportunity for you to learn a new tongue, or, it can be a waste of time studying a language that will never be relevant to your life and will, unfortunately, be quickly forgotten after the class is completed. So, what language should you take in college? Before you answer this, you should consider a few other questions: What are you interested in studying? Where do you see yourself living or working in the future? Is there a culture or country you want to learn more about?.”(more)
Jun 24, 2017
The Christian Science Monitor – Stacy Teicher Khadaroo
“There’s an essential skill not being taught enough in classrooms today, say a growing number of American educators. That skill is thinking. “Most teachers never really ask students to think very deeply…. Most of what is assigned and tested are things we ask students to memorize,” writes Karin Hess, president of Educational Research in Action in Underhill, Vt., and an expert on assessment, in an email to the Monitor. As people fret about politicians unwilling to compromise or business owners unable to find qualified workers, a common underlying problem is this “dearth of critical thinking skills,” says William Gormley, a professor of public policy at Georgetown University and author of ‘The Critical Advantage: Developing Critical Thinking Skills in School.'”(more)
Jun 24, 2017
Education World – Joel Stice
“Harvard University recently made headlines when it withdrew admission for ten would-be freshmen because of racist comments in a private Facebook group. The news raises the question of how much monitoring schools should be doing of their student’s social media activity, and what kind of responsibility do they have to teach internet etiquette? With everything from bullying to sexual harassment, spilling over from social media sites to campuses, schools around the country are beginning to take a more watchful approach to what students post online.”(more)
